Reversible pile fabric and method and means for forming same



Dec. 7, 1954 H, WEAR REVERSIBLE PILE FABRIC AND METHOD AND MEANS FORFORMING SAME 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 12, 1952 INVENTOR Jaw/y H.W15/HP 75mm, Lz/Z f, SW

ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1954 J. H. WEAR REVERSIBLE PILE FABRIC AND METHOD ANDMEANS FOR FORMING SAME 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12, 1952 Dec. 7, 1954J, WEAR Y 2,696,009

REVERSIBLE PILE FABRIC AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR FORMING SAME Filed May12, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 .T0/WV H. WEAR n/Lr, SM

ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1954 J WEAR 2,696,009

REVERSIBLE RILE FABRIC AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR FORMING SAME Filed May12, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 1N VENTOR JOHN h'. WEAR ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1954J. H. WEAR 2,696,009

REVERSIBLE PILE FABRIC AND METHOD AMD MEANS RoR EORMING SAME Filed May12, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lf-Vig il INVENTOR .IGH/V H. .f4/Ew@ ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent O REVERSIBLE PILE FABRIC AND METHOD AND MEANS F R FRMING SAME .lohn H. Wear, Fairmount, Ga., assigner to Russell-LaceyManufacturing Company, Inc., a corporation of Seorgia Application May12, 1952, Serial No. 257,330

Claims. (Cl. 2-278) rfhis invention relates to pile fabrics of the typecommonly referred to as chenille, in which a pile yarn is inserted in afabric base or backing to form a pile or tufting thereon, and moreparticularly to a uniquely arranged reversible pile fabric of this sort;i. e., a pile fabric in which pile or tufting is provided on both facesof the fabric base.

ln U. S. Patents No. 2,482,682 and No. 2,482,683,

issued September 20, 1949, a reversible pile fabric is disclosed inwhich the pile or tufting is formed at opposite faces of the fabric basefrom the same pile yarn. According to the present invention there is nowprovided a reversible pile fabric in which the pile or tufting at eachface of the fabric base is formed from separate pile yarns with thetufting on one face secured in place by the tufting for the oppositeface in a manner that makes it possible to form the tufting at bothfaces in one continuous operation. The use of separate pile yarns inthis way for the tufting at opposite faces of the fabric base allowsgreat iiexibility in color and pattern design because the coiortreatment of the separate pile yarn can be handled independently asdesired. The present invention is described in further detail below inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan View of one face of a reversible pile fabric embodyingthe present invention, with an edge portion turned for comparison of theopposite face;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail taken substantially on the line2-2 in Fig. 4 to show the arrangement of a row of tufting in the pile.fabric illustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a similar enlarged sectional detail taken transversely to Fig.2 as on the line 3-3 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan detail of tufting such as isemployed in the pile fabric illustrated in Fig. l, but with the tuftingshown in straight rows;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a tufting machine arranged according tothe present invention for forming a reversible pile fabric such as isillustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a further side elevation of the machine opposite to that shownin Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the machine, partly i?. sesction atsubstantially the line indicated at 7--7 in Fig. 8 is a sectional detailtaken substantially on the line 8-8 in Fig. 5; and

Figs. 9, l0 and 1l, inclusive, are fragmentary details correspondinggenerally to Fig. 7 and illustrating further the operating relation ofthe pile forming elements of the machine.

Referring first to Figs. 1 through 4 of the drawings, in which thestructural arrangement is illustrated for a pile fabric embodying thepresent invention, Fig. l shows a pile fabric in a form suitable for useas a circular rug 25 having a conventional decorative fringe 26 attachedin the usual manner at the edge thereof and provided with a tuftedsurface on both the top face 27 and the bottom face 28 thereof.

Fig. 2 represents the structure of the rug 25 more in detail ascomprising a fabric base 29 through which doubled portions of a firstpile yarn 30 are inserted at spaced intervals to form the bottom facetufting 28 which is shown in the form of chenille ends obtained bycutting the inserted doubled portions of the first pile yarn 3f? in theconventional manner, although it will be apparent that the bottom facetufting 28 might be left uncut in the form of loops if desired.

ice

The spaced insertion of the doubled portions of the first pile yarn 3Uto form the bottom face tufting 2S as described above results indisposing intermediate portions 31 of the first pile yarn 3) in extehdmgrelation between the inserted doubled portions and drawn against theopposite or top face of the fabric base 29 in the manner that ischaracteristic of conventional chenille fabrics. These intermediateportions 3f of the first pile yarn 3), however, are employed accordingto the present invention for securing the top face tufting 27 in place.This is also illustrated in Fig. 2 in which the top face tufting isshown as consisting of loops formed by doubled portions of a second pileyarn 32 that are intertwined with the first pile yarn 30 by threadingthem beneath the intermediate portions 3l of the first pile yarn.

JFig. 2 is arranged to represent a single row of the double facedtufting formed in this manner, while Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate therelation of adjacent rows of such double faced tufting, although itshould be noted that these figures of the drawings are exaggerated forpurposes or' illustration and that the adjacent rows of the doubletufting may in fact be spaced so that one face of the rug 25 is coveredand characterized solely by the inserted tufting 28, while the otherface is characterized solely by the supplemental tufting 27 (which wouldcover and obscure the intermediate portions 3l of the first pile yarn 30holding it in place), to provide a reversible pile fabric having theappearance illustrated for the rug 25 in Fig. 1.

The means by which a reversible pile fabric of this sort is formedaccording to the present invention is i1- lustrated in Figs. 5 through 8of the drawings as comprising a sewing machine head of any usualconstruction as indicated generally by the reference numeral 50. Asshown, the sewing machine head 5@ comprises a base t. portion 51 whichextends forwardly to provide a work support portion at 52 on which thepreviously mentioned fabric base 29 may be disposed during the tuftingor pile forming operation. The sewing machine head also comprises asupporting arm structure 53 in the usual manner for housing a driveshaft 54 arranged to be driven at its rear end through a pulley 55 andextending forwardly to a crank mechanism 56 arranged to reciprocate aneedle bar 57 fitted at its lower end with a needle 58 to which thepreviously mentioned first pile yarn 30 runs as in Fig. 6 to havesuccessive double portions thereof inserted through the fabric base 29for forming the bottom face tufting 23 as will be explained more indetail presently.

The usual presser foot 59 and work feeding dogs 6d are also provided onthe sewing machine head Sil at the work support portion 52 for feedingthe fabric base 29 past the needle 58 as the tufting operation iscarried out. in addition, an actuating linkage is arranged from aneccentric connection at 61 with the drive shaft 5d for operating theelements 62 and 63 of a cutting means below the work support portion 52for forming the chenille ends of the bottom face tufting 28, althoughthis cutting means might be replaced by looper hooks for forming thebottom faced tufting 28 in loops instead of chenille ends as mentionedabove.

The second pile yarn 32 is shown in Fig. 5 trained through the eyelet 64of a guide arm 65 and engaged by an associated hook element 66 forforming the supplemental or top face tufting 27 (compare Figs. 9, l0 andll). Both the guide arm 65 and the associated hook element 66 aremounted for lateral rocking motion about pivot shafts 67 and 68,respectively, with rock arms 69 and '70 fixed on these pivot shafts 67and 68 for actuation by connecting rods 7l and 72 having eccentricconnections at 73 and 74 with a takeoff shaft 75 mounted on the sewingmachine head 25 for driving from the drive shaft 54 through a pair oftakeoff gears '76 and 77.

The manner in which this mechanism operates to form the reversible pilefabric of the present invention is further shown in Figs. 9 through llof the drawings in which the operating relationship of the pile formingelements is illustrated. In Fig. 9, the needle 58 is shown at the top ofits stroke, having just recovered from 3 inserting a doubled portion ofthe first pile yarn 30 in the fabric base 29. The guide arm 65 at thistime is rocked laterally across the path of the needle 58 so as todispose a portion 32' of the second pile yarn that has been doubled bythe associated hook element 66 in a position so that the needle 58 upondescending to insert a succeeding doubled portion of the first pile yarn30 will pass between the guide arm 65 and the doubled portion 32 of thesecond pile yarn 32 as shown in Fig. l0. This results in threading thedoubled portion 32 of the second pile yarn 32 beneath the intermediateportion 31 of the first pile yarn 30 as this intermediate portion 31 isdrawn against the top face of the fabric base 29 to secure the secondpile yarn doubled portion 32 as an element of the face tufting 27simultaneously with formation of the inserted double portion of thefirst pile yarn 30 as an element of the bottom face tufting 2S. As theoperation continues upon further downward movement of the needle 58, theguide arm 65 is rocked laterally away from the needle 58 and theassociated hook element 66 is rocked toward the needle 58 so as torelease the doubled second pile yarn portion 32 just secured as anelement of the top face tufting 27 and thereby free the hook element 66to move up and engage a succeeding portion of the second pile yarn 32 asillustrated in Fig. l1, after which the cycle of operation is repeatedto form the double face tufting continuously in a single operation, aspreviously noted above.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes ofillustration only and is not intended to be limited by this descriptionor otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A pile fabric comprising a preformed fabric base, doubled portions ofa first pile yarn inserted in said fabric base at spaced intervals andforming pile elements extending from one face of said fabric base withconnected intermediate portions thereof drawn against the opposite faceof said fabric base, and doubled portions of a second pile yarnintertwined with said intermediate portions of the first pile yarn andheld thereby to form pile elements extending from said opposite face ofthe fabric base.

2. A pile fabric comprising a preformed fabric base having pile elementsextending from one face thereof that are formed by doubled portions of afirst pile yarn inserted in said fabric base at spaced intervals withconnected intermediate portions of said first pile yarns drawn againstthe opposite face of said fabric base, and having pile elementsextending from said opposite face of the fabric base that are formed bydoubled portions of a second pile yarn threaded under said intermediateportions of the first pile yarn and held thereby.

3. A pile fabric comprising a preformed fabric base, a rst continuouspile yarn having doubled portions thereof inserted through said fabricbase at spaced intervais for forming pile elements extending from oneface of said fabric base with intermediate portions thereof extendingbetween said doubled portions and drawn against the opposite face ofsaid fabric base, and a second continuous pile yarn having doubledportions thereof threaded under said intermediate portions of the firstpile yarn and held thereby to form pile elements extending from saidopposite face of the fabric base.

4. A pile fabric comprising a preformed fabric base having doubledportions of a first continuous pile yarn inserted therein and cut toform chenille ends extending from one face thereof with intermediateportions of said first pile yarn reaching between said cut doubledportions and drawn against the opposite face of said fabric base, andhaving doubled portions of a second continuous pile yarn intertwinedwithsaid intermediate portions of the first pile yarn and held thereby toform pile loops extending from said opposite face of the fabric base.

5. A reversible pile fabric comprising a preformed fabric base, doubledportions of a continuous pile yarn inserted in said fabric base atspaced intervals and cut to form chenille ends extending from one faceof said fabric base with intermediate portions of said pile yarnreaching between said cut doubled portions and drawn against theopposite face of said fabric base, and doubled portions of anadditional, separate, continuous pile yarn threaded under saidintermediate portions of the first mentioned pile yarns and held therebyto form pile loops extending from said opposite face of the fabric base.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,805,339 McAdams May 12, 1931 1,949,319 McAdams Feb. 27, 19342,226,631 Miller Dec. 3l, 1940 2,311,802 Windham Feb. 23, 1943 2,482,683Moore Sept. 20, 1949 2,486,963 Miller Nov. l, 1949 2,508,852 Blumeld May23, 1950 2,607,042 Schloss Aug. 19, 1952 2,642,571 Brown June 23, 1953

